Able Seaman Reuben Mitchell DSM

In Ballarat's Avenue of Honour there has been a tree planted for R.J.E. Mitchell.  The tree's number is 1446 and it was planted by R. Herbert.  I thought rather than see this person as just a name on a plaque in the Avenue of Honour, it might worthwhile to find out about this person and his war experiences.   So over the coming months  new posts about Reuben will be posted on the blog as we follow him through the war.  His name was chosen at random so there is no special reason why he was chosen to blog about, just that he had a tree in the avenue and he had a connection to Ballarat.

For this first post it might be a good idea to introduce Reuben so as to get an idea of his family and his life prior to the war. Reuben was born on 28 July 1894 in Ballarat the youngest child of Thomas and Alice (nee Holman).  Reuben had 4 siblings, Dorothy, Richard, who died when he was 7 months old, Richard James and Thomas.  They lived with their parents at 206 Creswick Rd, Ballarat.

Reuben stood at 5'7" tall, he had brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.  In 1910 he decided to join the Royal Navy straight from school. He enlisted on 19 March 1910 and was based on the Australia Station.  He served on several ships  before joining HMS Challenger for her voyage back to England.  While based at Portsmouth he volunteered for submarine service and on completion of his training at HMS Dolphin based at Fort Blockhouse and HMS Vernon which included training in HM submarines A6, A13 and E4 he joined HMAS AE2 for he voyage back to Australia as an Able Seaman.

At the outbreak of the war in 1914 Reuben was still serving on HMAS AE2 and saw action off German New Guinea and in the Pacific in the closing months of 1914.

Hopefully this snapshot has provided an overview of Reuben prior to the war and the family he left behind in Ballarat when he enlisted in the navy.

S.M.S. Emden, H.M.A.S Sydney, and the man who made Ballarat home

The First A.I.F. convoy sailed on November 1st, 1914, leaving Albany, W.A. and sailing into the Indian Ocean.  You may have seen on television the large commemorations which took place two weekends ago.

Escort cruisers of the convoy were H.M.A.S. Melbourne and H.M.A.S. Sydney.  The convoy received reports of a mysterious raider at the Cocos Islands, where there was a cable and wireless station.  Disruption to this station would have wrecked communication between England and Australia, and so the Sydney steamed to investigate - the raider was indeed the Emden, which had been prowling and troubling shipping in the Indian Ocean for some months.  Reports in the 100 year old Ballarat Courier this week announce with acclaim the destruction of the Emden by H.M.A.S. Sydney - Australia's first naval engagement and victory.  You can read more about this in The Royal Australian Navy, edited by David Stevens, volume 3 of the Australian Centenary of the History of Defence, which we hold in the Australiana Research Room.

This morning, we had some visitors from Kyneton, and while chatting, we found that our visitor's father-in-law was aboard the Sydney at this famous engagement.  His name was Arthur A. Hart, and he was in fact a member of the British Navy, seconded to the Australian Navy.  After the Great War was over, Arthur Hart migrated with his family to Australia, to live in Ballarat for the rest of his life. His ashes were scattered in the Ballarat New Cemetery in 1978. He was aged 88 when he died.

When the famiy first arrived in Ballarat they lived with a relation, a Miss Derby, in Dana Street.  Miss Derby worked at the School of Mines.  Later, Arthur bought his own home in Magpie Street.  Maybe someone remembers the Hart family.

This is information as supplied by Arthur Hart's son-in-law.  He has promised to return with Arthur Hart's medals and other service documents, so we may be able to update this post soon.